Australian feminist questions ban on sexy advertisement

A leading Australian feminist on Friday slammed the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) for banning a billboard advertising campaign for Calvin Klein jeans it considered “suggestive of violence and rape”.

Melbourne University lecturer Lauren Rosewarne told national broadcaster ABC that the ASB was wrongly equating group sex with gang rape.

She said that “apparently there’s no capacity to even consider that a woman just might agree to this kind of sex”.

The hoardings, which were taken down in Sydney and Melbourne after more than 50 complaints, depict model Lara Stone, the Dutch-born wife of British comedian David Walliams, without most of her clothes and being wrestled by near-naked men.

“The board considered that the image was demeaning to women by suggesting that she is a plaything of these men,” the ASB said in its ruling. “It also demeans men by implying sexualised violence against women.”